Like a Rock

The hike to the top of this bluff is always a bit tough and last night I had two 30 somethings accompanying me. Teri was my ex neighbor and we've been friends for about 12 years and her pal came along also.

We thought it would be fun to hike and sweat and get a cardio work out hiking to the Rock. Once there we shed our extra shirts and took up spots to watch the valley below us.

I have to admit, I kept crawling around the rock taking photos and chatting. 
Duh. I'd ID a bird call or point out the obvious. I guess it must have been  obvious that I don't get out often with others. Generally I just mumble to myself and answer myself.

We fell into silence for a long time and just enjoyed the view. [I think I was quiet for about 3 minutes.] I really need to shut up.

I've never been to this rock in the evening. I'm so glad I did. The skies were rather bland but as the sun sank lower, the oranges came out brighter.

There were no clouds but the river and valley moisture was becoming apparent. 

A two shot pano looking east to south.

I commented that I could sleep up on the rock so I could watch the night sky and listen to the night sounds. My friends said I was nuts and I'd fall off the bluff. I laughed. 
Can you imagine what an adventure that would be?

It was time to freak my friends out. I crawled to the edge of the rock as twilight came and took a shot straight down over the edge. You may be able to make out the trail below.

I think the elevation from the trail head to the bluff is about 200 feet.

There is not a lot of room to maneuver around but I sure enjoyed seeing the sights.

We headed down as darkness descended. 

We got into the forest and turned off our lights to listen to the night creatures. There was what we decided could be some kind of bird making some really odd noises.

I said it had to be a baby Sasquatch.

When we got back to where we parked we were amazed at the sheer volume of fireflies. They danced and whirled silently, lighting up and glowing, then darting here and there.

I set up my tripod and entertained my friends by showing them how to 'catch' a photo of them.

We parted after discussing another adventure we hoped to do this summer. Stars or moon watching from the KVR Dam site.

I talked about light painting and had shown them on the bluff how fun it was...example below...

We thought it might be fun to engage in some light painting on one of the covered bridges.

They took off and I started to leave but something made me stop.

20 years now
Where'd they go?
20 years now
I don't know
I sit and I wonder sometimes
Where they've gone
And sometimes late at night
Oh, when I'm bathed in the firelight
The moon comes callin' a ghostly white
And I recall
I recall....

Bob Seger [Like a Rock 1986]

I didn't linger long because I knew Teri would be watching for my headlights to make sure I was coming down the road too.

Like

a

Rock...

My hands were steady
My eyes were clear and bright
My walk had purpose
My steps were quick and light
And I held firmly 
To what I felt was right
Like a rock...

Fresh air recharge

We finally got our schedules to mesh up and go view the ice caves. I met with my ex neighbor and her kids at Weister Creek. 

Charlie was beyond happy. 

The view of the first of the two ice caves?

Let's just say there where a lot of ... Wow's!

The upper two iced areas are the ice caves that a person can get into.

Comparison photos....

Just a little over 4 weeks ago:

Yesterday in the same spot with me holding Charlie:

We did a lot of exploring and when some other folks appeared we let them have the cave to themselves.

The lower half of the ice formations were incredible with different hues of colors.

I would like to go back and climb down in there to get a closer look at the icicles. 

Briar was our comedian. He too, loves snow.

 

The second ice cave wasn't so exciting and two groups of people were already there so we hiked out to Weister Creek to enjoy the ice falls.

4 weeks ago:

Briar asked if he could explore the ice and I cautioned him to be very careful as the water under the ice is deep.

He stood on it. I wouldn't let him go out more than a foot on it.

When we turned to leave, he took a large step and his foot broke through the ice. 

Thankfully, it was just his boot that went through.

We hiked down to another ice fall area to explore the colors of the ice.

As we were admiring the ice falls and discussing the colors of the ice, we turned to see a woman walk out alongside the dead tree that lays across the stream.

We collectively held our breath.

I wanted to shout out to her to stay off river/stream ice unless she wanted to take a cold dunk.

She got back to the bank without breaking through and we all sighed. Too often people from not around here assume that the ice that forms over streams/creeks/rivers are the same as the ice that forms on lakes.

 

It is a very dangerous assumption.

This is the current under that ice.

We had to hold Charlie to keep him from exploring the edge and falling under the ice.

Exploring the area is beautiful. But one needs to use their head!

This photo was done with my infrared camera. Who says IR is only for summer?

We explored up one of the dry runs until we got to a spot where it split in three directions.

There was a huge log laying down that would have been a perfect spot for a picnic.

We enjoyed the warm sun and listened to the breeze rustle the leaves above our heads.

Charlie was worn out from 'snow swimming'. Everyone had picked him up at some point and given him a small lift. Being a tough little guy, he wiggled and was put back down. He was the trail leader after all.

We really had to laugh when we got back to the parking area.

Subaru owners do this on purpose. If there is another Subaru around, they will make every effort to park near the others. There were two more Outbacks just out of frame and an Impreza pulled in as we got ready to leave.

Mine is the dirtiest one!

Charlie was all ready for a cuddly nap when we got home.

As much as I didn't want the adventure to end, I felt relaxed and recharged.

Ice Hunting part II

After breakfast, we packed our backpacks and made sure that Rich was comfortable. He said he was going to lay down and nap.

So the Gang and I + Dogs, headed towards the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. KVR had their annual Winterfest going on and we went past the building and headed out to the area that I'd explored in mid December just days before Rich's hospitalization.

Those who run the reserve have put up some signs that would help a person locate the 'Ice Caves', but if you are a person that understands how our peculiar landscape works, you'd have no trouble finding the ones that are popular and the ones that others usually don't know about.

We wore ice cleats or Yak Traks. With all the snow melt and rain we'd had earlier this week any trails would be ice packed. Extra traction really does help.

We took Scout and Charlie and they had a blast. I was amazed at how athletic Charlie really is with those short stubby legs of his.

Here is a pano shot much like one I did in December. Except there is Daryl in the middle-right of the photo for perspective.

When walking up on this place you become literally stunned by how large it is and how incredible it is.
I stood with my friends and asked them if our eyes were deceiving us like I felt it had last month.

Doesn't it look like there are floating islands of trees? I thought it was just how things looked in the camera.
But we all agreed, it was bizarre and beautiful.

We came in above the second formation. The 'caves' are large enough to stand in. The warm winter and the recent rains have melted the old ice and the recent cold snap is freezing the water that is coming through the rocks.
In the above shot, there is Daryl again to the right and to the left is Charlie...or is it Scout? I can't tell!

Well this should give you some sort of idea what it was like. In a really cold winter, this would be a wall of ice of multiple colors from all the minerals in the land and rocks.

Charlie is inspecting a cascade of ice that has fallen in the last warm up.

Below...just other cool shots.

In this area, we stopped and ate some snacks and the hot chocolate I carried in the tiny thermos was so delicious.

We traveled along the ridge top and then descended into the valley next to the creek. This was not a creek like the one in our little valley. This was a proper creek.

We stood looking around and then noticed the ice on the sandy 'bluff' of the creek.

The colors were amazing and you could see where the water had been higher during the first part of the week.

I picked up Charlie as I was afraid that he'd get out on the thin ice along the edge of the creek.
My friend Amanda snapped a shot of us.
I love this photo!

Further down the creek we spotted some odd colored ice.

I called it 'Sherbert Ice' ....really, it looked orange!

To get a proper shot of this ice, we'd have had to walk around back to the parking lot and then follow another long trail to get across the creek to see this.
It really would have been worth it.

But we headed back to the vehicle and headed home, so we could rest and eat supper.

After dark we planned on a night hike with head lamps.

I didn't get many good shots, I didn't dress warm enough for some reason. However watching the clouds and the stars above was worth the bit of chill I had.

There is nothing that beats a night hike with friends....
Here are a couple of shots... and how we set up.

My shot didn't turn out very well for this experiment. In fact it sort of came out quite ugly. However I did nab a shot of the ice wall in our creek. You can see the water slowly seeping over the ice that is already there. I had my friends use their headlamps to light up the area.

And then there is the utter failure of a shot of the creek just using a crescent moon.

All was not lost however.

I loved discovering the Orange Ice.

And in one of the ice caves I found an intriguing ice shape.

I'll leave you with my favorite shot of the weekend.

Ice Sculpture:

Good Enough Friday!

Friday morning at sunrise just outside Readstown.

The geese came flying in above and I panned with the camera.
The K-town gang wanted to go to one of our favorite sunrise spots.

After breakfast, the guys went to get small bales of hay. While Rich and I had to take a trip to the nursing home to sign some paperwork...Daryl worked with the chainsaw on the giant oak tree that fell last year over the fence. The upper part of the branches held the trunk off the fence, but I could see that it was slowly sinking.
The last thing I wanted to happen was for the fence to get ruined if I had cattle in that pasture.

Thank you Daryl and the girls. I know they worked hard on the tree and unloaded the hay from Rich's truck while we were taking care of business at the nursing home.

We had planned a trip to KVR on Friday. The weather was supposed to turn cold and rainy by nightfall. We planned our Saturday hike to be close to home.

I know how much my friends enjoy seeing our unique 'ice' caves so I took the gang on a short side trip to explore two ice formations before we decided to do the Black Hawk Rock Hike.

Note that Charlie was being picked up a lot at this point. The ice was wet and very cold. I think Charlie was shivering from the excitement and not necessarily the cold.

However, Charlie proved himself to be quite the avid hiker on groomed trails.
Yes, we had his little cord on him. It doubled as a leash at times.

The two dogs got along famously. 

Charlie continued to be a source of entertainment.

Here he decides to carry a Big Stick. 

By the time we reached Black Hawk Rock, Charlie was in need of a nap. I tucked him in my flannel jacket and zipped it up. Charlie settled and and started to snore.

At this point, I'd wished I'd brought some sort of bag to carry him in. However, we made do and around we climbed to the top.

The views were incredible. The winds were bone chilling.

And...Charlie slept through it all.
He woke up and went back to hiking when we descended off the rock.

[According to the app MapMyHike our route had taken us 3.68 miles. The top of Black Hawk Rock was at an elevation of 1,442 feet above sea level.]

It was a grand hike. One I won't mind doing again.

We got home just in time to do chores and finish up an incredible supper. We'd put a large arm roast in a roaster and cooked it all day. Daryl added the finishing touches and we sat around the round table and shared our day with Rich.

The two dogs wrestled in the living room.

We discussed our hiking plans for Saturday.
The Lost Valley.

And we all went to bed early.